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My heart is going crazy fast. I press my hands to my belly in an attempt to stop it from swooping and swaying.
My mouth feels dry.
I reach up and disentangle my hair tie, loosening the messy bun and finger-combing my hair over one shoulder before I pull the door inward.
‘Zach?’ My voice is breathy, making it obvious that his appearance is not exactly unwelcome.
He eyes me with an emotion I can’t understand. It’s dark, and light. Impatient and euphoric. I stare back at him, trying to make sense of this random appearance.
‘What are you doing here?’
His smile twists my stomach into knots and then he leans forward, just far enough to claim my lips, to move his mouth over mine, his kiss both a surprise and totally familiar, as if I’d been expecting it.
Without meaning to I step forward and he lifts a forearm to take the weight of the door so I no longer have to worry about holding it open. His kiss burns me to the tips of my toes.
But this isn’t what we agreed. I force myself to pull back, to stare at him. I’ve learned my lesson about men who want more. I’ll never be an instrument of hurt again.
My breath is burning in my lungs, my pulse thready.
His smile shows he remembers what he can do to me. Arrogant. Hot. Sublime.
‘Aren’t you going to ask me in?’ It’s a rumbly, sexy double entendre. I shake my head a little, to warn myself off how much I want that.
I’m so glad to see him, but I don’t reveal that.
‘I’m not sure.’ Crossing my arms over my chest is a lapse in judgement. He makes no attempt to hide his appreciation for the silhouette of my bra-free breasts as he drops his gaze.
‘I’m sure I could come up with a way to change your mind,’ he suggests, but makes no attempt to move, and in the back of my mind I appreciate that. Because he’s right, he could kiss me again and all my objections would melt away.
‘We said one night, didn’t we?’
‘We did,’ he agrees with a nod and a smile that show he understands my predicament. ‘I thought we could revise the terms of our agreement.’
I consider that, noting how alike we are. Some people just let themselves get totally swept up in passion and the promise that’s inherent in it, but not me, and not him. We both see it for what it is—an exchange. A contract. And contracts have terms that can be negotiated, just as I’m doing right now with the potential sale of a percentage of She-Shakes.
‘Why don’t you come in and we can discuss it?’ He waits for me to step deeper into the suite before he follows, closing the door quietly behind him.
‘I just got back,’ I sa
y, turning to face him.
‘I know.’
‘You know? How?’
‘I had Ricky from the bar downstairs give me a call when you got to the hotel.’
I stare at him. ‘But...why?’
‘Because I wanted to see you again.’
My heart soars. I tamp down on it quickly. ‘At the risk of repeating myself: why?’
‘Because I had fun last night.’
‘So did I.’
‘And I want more.’
